Prophecy Of Gray
by 1-Artemis-Hunter-1
Summary: The story line of the first book but theres a catch Gregor has been living in the Underland for about 5 years now. If you havent already read my other story "Meeting Early" before you read this no reason for the T rating I dont own the Underland Chronicle
1. A new nickname

**So this is the first stage in the series that deals with the book. Just to clarify I'll be going along with the sequence of events in the book, which will make it seem very familiar, but with the twist of Gregor having grown up in the Underland.**

**Here we go(:**

**Chapter 1-**

Luxa blinked at her friend, "You think the Prophecy of Gray is upon us?"

"Let us go talk to Vikus, he will tell you I am right."

Gregor turned to see said old man watching The King and Queen playing with Maggie with a sparkle in his eye.

"Vikus," Gregor walked up to him.

"Ah Gregor, would you mind giving little Maggie here a ride to the Palace on Ares?"

"Of course."

"Thank you my boy, Dulcet will take her and bathe her from there." Gregor smiled at the mention of his old babysitter.

"Ok, uh, Maggie!" the boy called, Maggie ran to him and he lifted her onto Ares' back.

"Bat!" She said while happily stroking Ares' head. The bat chuckled his 'Huh huh huh' laugh. Gregor jumped on behind the little girl and Ares took off.

* * *

><p>Later that day, Gregor stood in the Prophecy room re-reading the Prophecy of Gray for about the 10th time that hour, when he heard the ancient wooden door creek open.<p>

"Gregor?" The young Queen called, "Are you not coming to dinner?"

"Yeah, I was just looking at the prophecy again."

Luxa walked to her friend and stared at the stone wall that held the prophecy, "Why are you stressing over this?" she asked.

He sighed, "Because Lux, when we were 8 Vikus told me I was the Warrior in the prophecy, and ever since then, I've been obsessing over these prophecies and training. You know that."

"Yes, but why do you keep insisting it is starting now? How can you be so sure?"

"Look at the prophecy Luxa!_ Two over, Two under, of Royal Descent._ 'Two over' obviously means two Overlanders, I'm one and now that Maggie's here there's two. 'Two under, of Royal Descent'. Is it just me or is it a just a caqinky-dink that Henry, your ROYAL cousin is also visiting right now?"

"Well yes, that is all true."

"I believe the boy is right Luxa." A voice said from the doorway. The two 11 year olds turned around to see Vikus, the King and Queen, Aurora, Ares, and Henry standing there. "I do believe the Prophecy of Gray is upon us."

"Which means we need to start negotiations with the other species mentioned in it to allow members to join the quest." The king said.

"Luxa, while we work on the spinners and crawlers, would you take Gregor, Aurora, Ares, and Mareth and his bond will go with you, to the flier's land to get permission from Queen Athena?" the Queen asked her daughter. It was the perfect opportunity to practice dealing with the other species for once she is queen, her mother thought.

Gregor looked at his friend, who was close enough to him that he could feel her starting to shake. She was noticeably paler, if that was possible, and she looked like she was going to be sick.

"Yes mother." Luxa said with more confidence then Gregor thought she had at the moment. The Queen smiled at her daughter before she and her husband left to start the negotiations.

"Well, I shall tell the staff to get the food for our dinner ready. Gregor, Luxa, will you fetch Maggie from the Nursery?" They nodded, "Very good!" he said with a twinkle in his eyes. The old man turned and left the three friends to themselves.

All was silent for a few minutes before Henry spoke up, "We came looking for you two when you did not show up for dinner. Ripred thought you were off 'Sucking face'" he used air quotes for the words sucking face, "What ever that may mean."

Gregor blushed hard, he didn't remember much from the six or so years he spent in the Overland, but he remembered that meant kissing. And he certainly **_did not_** want to kiss his best friend.

"We should get Maggie." He muttered, grabbing Luxa by the arm and pulling her out of the room.

"Why are you blushing?" Luxa asked her friend. He tried to cover his face with his hair, he needed a hair cut, but she wasn't fooled. "Gregor." The tone of voice she used made Gregor sigh, he knew she was serious when she used her 'Queen voice' as he has come adapt to calling it.

"I just remembered what Henry meant when he said 'sucking face'." he said. Not even trying to lie to her, she would see right through it anyway. This angered Gregor because it meant he couldn't get away with anything.

"What does it mean?" she asked curiously.

"It- uh, um it just means -it is-"

"Gregor! Luxa! How nice to see you again." Gregor let out a sigh of relief when Dulcet interrupted him. "I believe it is time for dinner yes?" The two nodded, "Very good, Maggie time for dinner! Are you hungry?"

"Ye-es!" the toddler came running and Dulcet picked her up mid run. They all shared a laugh and headed to the Dinning Hall.

* * *

><p>Gregor got down on his knees and looked under the table. Still nothing. The 11 year old was looking for his boots. He couldn't find them anywhere and they were his favorite pair. "Luxa have you seen my boots?" he called to his friend currently sitting in her room not 10 feet from him.<p>

"No, I have not." Gregor let out an agitated sigh. Luxa came out to the door and raised a silvery blond eyebrow at him. "Where did you put them?"

"If I knew would I be asking?"

She shrugged, "I suppose not."

"So are you going to help me find them?"

Luxa faked like she was thinking about that, "Hmmm, no." she smiled sweetly at Gregor before returning to her room.

Gregor humphed, "_Girls_." and returned to searching the Royal wing for his boots.

10 minutes later and Gregor still hadn't found his boots. "Where are they!"

"Ge-go!"

Gregor looked up, there was Maggie, and to his surprise, she was holding his boots.

"Maggie! You found my boots!" she giggled and that and the look on her face made Gregor think she did more then just find them. "Did you steal my boots Maggie?"

His question only set the small girl into another fit of giggles. "Ye-es!" she said like it was perfectly normal.

"You know if you keep taking them we might just have to call you Boots." He joked with her. The way Maggie's eyes lit up when he called her 'Boots' gave him an idea. Gregor reached out and picked the girl up. Out of instinct (he was always to young to play with his little sister Lizzie, who was even younger) he lifted up her shirt and blew raspberries into her stomach. Maggie laughed so hard she dropped Gregor's boots, and so loud Luxa came out of her room to investigate.

When she saw what was happening in her sitting room, the queen-to-be leaned against the frame of her doorway and smiled at the two. Gregor was right when he said they were related, she thought. They acted just like a brother and a sister would/should. Not like Luxa had any experience in that field, being an only child.

Gregor finally noticed his friend standing and watching him, "I found my boots, well more like the thief returned to the scene of the crime." he sent a pointed look to Maggie, "I think we should call her the Boot thief."

"Or Boots for short." Luxa laughed.

"Yeah," Gregor chuckled, "Come on Boots, its lunch time."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it(:<strong>

**Review for another chapter!**

**~Arty  
><strong>


	2. A fight at the beach

_Last time on Prophecy of Gray:_

_Gregor finally noticed his friend standing and watching him, "I found my boots, well more like the thief returned to the scene of the crime." he sent a pointed look to Maggie, "I think we should call her the Boot thief."_

_"Or Boots for short." Luxa laughed._

_"Yeah," Gregor chuckled, "Come on Boots, its lunch time."_

* * *

><p>After lunch, Gregor and Luxa took the time to show Boots around Regalia. Ares joined them as they walked out onto the docks-the last stop on their tour.<p>

"These are our docks Boots." Luxa informed the two-year-old. Boots wiggled out of Luxa's arms and ran to investigate her new surroundings while her brother talked to his best friend and bond.

"She is very much like you." Luxa commented as she watched the little girl.

"Yeah." Suddenly a thought came to Gregor's mind. "Would she stay here with us, or go back? After the quest?"

Luxa brushed a lock of hair out of her face as she thought about the question. "It is hard to say Gregor." She answered after what seemed like and eternity to him. "I suppose it would be best for her to return to her home, however we would have to call upon her in the future, and that may cause some trouble."

Gregor nodded, _he_ knew he couldn't return to the Overland, not now, but he saw how innocent his sister was, and he wished for her to stay that way. She had to go back, he decided.

"Ge-go!" Boot's call and laughter broke him out of his thoughts. He looked over, just to see one of the boats as it plunged into the wild river below.

Gregor felt panic course through him. "Boots!" he screamed. He almost launched himself over the side of the dock into the unfavinable depths and churning, white foaming river below.

"Gregor take Ares and chase your sister! I will get help." Luxa said urgently and ran back into the palace, Gregor jumped off the side of the dock for real. Ares caught him shortly after and flew full speed down the river. Catching his little sister was no small fleet, the river was fast, even Ares had trouble keeping up with the boat.

Not only was the river fast, but incredibly dangerous. Gregor watched in horror as the boat just barely miss huge boulders, and jagged rocked that stuck out of the water.

"Gregor!" A voice rang out. Gregor didn't pay attention to it, for he thought he had been imagining it, but when he heard it again, he listened. "Gregor! Steer her to the beach coming up!"

The eleven year old immediately listened to the voice, raising to a standing possition and jumped off Ares into the boat.

"Ge-go!" Boots giggled. Gregor grabbed the oar that had been placed on the bottom of the canoe and used it to push off a rock, towards the beach. A long cavern lined with crystals sparkled around Gregor and Boots, shinning off the Regalian's torches even from the distance they were.

When the boat slammed onto shore, Gregor just managed to catch himself before he smacked his head on the bottom of the boat. Boots landed in between his legs, she cried a little, and Gregor was quick to comfort her.

The boat was heavier than Gregor thought, a fact he learned the hard way when trying to drag the dinghy across the sand.

Boots wiggled out of his grip and ran towards the tunnel Gregor just noticed branched off of the beach. He hurried after her. Gregor finally caught the infant just before the mouth of the dark hole.

Suddenly something emerged from the dark and into the dim light. Gregor staggered back in surprise as a horrifying face of a rat broke into a smile.

"Ah, here you are at last," The rat said while leisurely leaning back on his rump. "We expected you ages ago. Look, Fangor, he brought the pup."

A second nose appeared over the first rat's shoulder. _'It has a friend,' _Gregor thought dryly, _'Perfect.'_

"What a tidbit she is," the rat, Fangor Gregor remembered it's name being, said in a rich, smooth voice. "I will allow you the entire boy if I may have the sweetness of the pup to myself, Shed."

The first rat, Shed, scratched under his chin thoughtfully, if a rat could _be_ thoughtful that is. "That is tempting, but he is more bone than meat, and she is such a morsel. I find myself quite torn by your offer."

Gregor found himself shaking as the rats negotiated who would eat who. He had trained for moments like this for the last 5 years, but it was nothing like the real thing, and Gregor quickly figured out he was no where near ready for the real thing.

In his defense, rats were purely terrifying. They were a good six feet tall, and that was sitting on their haunches. Their limbs were thick with muscle, though, the thing that really scared Gregor were their six inch fangs that stuck out of their hairy mouths. When Gregor started listening to the rats' conversation again, he found them talking about him.

"The boy had fish for lunch. Mushrooms, grain, even a bit of leaf. You must admit, Shed, that's flavorful!" Fangor argued.

'_Still talking about eating us' _Gregor sighed mentally, some things never change. Rats always talked about food, at least Ripred did.

"But the pup gorged on stewed cow and cream," Shed argued back. "Not to mention she is clearly milk-fed herself." Gregor wondered how milk-fed could have made any difference, but it obviously meant something to the rats.

Gregor started wishing that Ares, Luxa, and the others she had procured to help would get here soon. He didn't even have his sword! He had left it in High Hall when they set out on their tour after lunch, some 'warrior' he is.

Gregor dusted off some of the dirt that had got on on his shirt from trying to pull up the boat earlier. "Do I not get a say in this?"

The rats shared a laugh, to Gregor's surprise. "He speaks!" Shed exclaimed. "What a treat! Usually we get nothing but shrieks and whimpers! What makes you so brave boy?" The rat growled in his face.

If he had learned one thing from Ripred's harsh teaching strategies, it was how to mask your fear so your opponent couldn't feed upon it. So he kept his composer as the rat hissed in his face.

"I'm not brave," Gregor said, he could keep fear from showing on his face, but he couldn't keep it from his smell. And he knew all to well that rats had unbelievable senses of smell. "You can smell that."

Shed smiled at Gregor, the rat's hot breath engulfed his face and Gregor tried not to breath in. "True, your sweat carries much fear."

"But yet," Fangor picked at his teeth in attempt to look fierce, no doubt, "You still managed to address us."

Gregor took a deep breath, and checked down at Boots. She had somehow managed to fall asleep in his arms. A good thing, Gregor decided, she didn't need to see this. He didn't have to answer the rat, as his friend did before he could.

"Humans are commonly deary in general." Gregor wondered subconsciously how they would know that, "But I like you boy! Say we keep him, Fangor."

"Oh, Shed, how would that be? It would involve _so _much explaining, and I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge. All this chatting has given me great hunger." Fangor started towards the two siblings.

"As me, let us eat!" Shed joined his friend as they stalked towards Gregor and his sister. The rats exposed their teeth again. When they got to close, Gregor's reflexes worked on their own. He reached out and kicked Fangor in the chest. The rat staggered backwards a few steps, but Gregor saw his actions only made the rat madder.

"Now you're going to get it boy!" Fangor growled and pounced for Gregor's throat.

The bat came in so quietly, neither Gregor or the rats saw it until it caught Fangor mid-jump. Not a good day for the rat so far Gregor mused. The blow knocked him off course and plowed him right into Shed. They stayed down for less than a few seconds before getting to their feet in a flash. They turned to see their new targets.

Gregor recognized Henry, Mareth, and Perdita-his other trainer along with Mareth- whizzing by on their bats high enough above the rats' heads to be able to dodge the rats' feeble attempts at clawing them out of the air. Though if they did succeed, those wicked claws were deadly sharp, another thing Gregor learned the hard way.

The rescue team got tired of defense quickly and turned to offense, diving at the rats, swords in hand. Fangor and Shed fought back. Blood stained the beach, though who's, Gregor didn't have a clue.

Ares scooped down to land next to him, "Come Gregor, I will take you to safety."

"Flee!" Henry shouted to him at the same time. "Flee Gregor! Take care of the child."

Gregor wanted to make sure that his sister was safe, more than anything, but he knew he couldn't leave them to fight the rats by themselves. He had a part in causing this, so he needed to help fix it. Gregor set his sleeping sister gently on his friend's back before running into the heat of the battle.

At the same moment he arrived back to the scene, Shed caught Mareth's bond Andromeda's wing in it's teeth and hung on like his life depended on it. Because, in a sense, it did. Andromeda struggled to get free, but Shed was locked on her wing and had no intention of letting go if he could help it. Perdita came from behind and took Shed's ear off with a missed swing intended to cut his head off. Shed's grip on Mareth's bond was released when he gave a howl of pain.

Time seemed to slow, for as Perdita pulled out of her dive, Fangor jumped onto her bat. He ripped a chunk of fur off its throat, hurling her towards the ground. Perdita smacked her head on the cavern wall and was knocked out cold.

Fangor strutted over to her, teeth aimed to do the same to her throat as he did to the bat's. Gregor's limbs moved on their own, he jumped forward and punched Fangor straight in his ugly, blood stained face. The rat bellowed and fumbled backwards, straight into Henry's sword. Fangor's life-less body fell to the ground, Henry let his sword go, it falling to the sand with the rat.

Gregor jumped in surprise when he heard Boot's shrill cry from above. Her cries carried around the cavern. They sent Shed into a crazed frenzy, and dazed the bats. Ares quickly flew down the corridor to attempt to weaken the cry with distance.

"How fly you Mareth?" Henry yelled to the solider while their enemy was still preoccupied.

"We can hold!" Came his reply, Gregor doubted for long with his bat spraying blood from her previous wound. Things looked anything but good at the moment. The loss of blood was taking its toll on Mareth's bond, Perdita was unconscious while her bat gasped for air on the ground next to her, Gregor could still hear Boots' screeches echoing down from where Ares had flown, but at least Henry was unharmed. It was only then that Gregor noticed Luxa was not there.

Mareth was trying to keep the rat from Perdita while Henry flew in hope to draw the rat's attention, though he could only get so close without a sword. Gregor ran behind Mareth in attempt to hold Shed off should he get passed the boy's instructor. Shed, though bleeding badly, had lost not a bit of his strength.

The rat leaped and caught Andromeda by her feet, slamming the bat into the nearest wall. Then turned to Gregor. "Now you die!" he hollered and lunged. Gregor stood his ground and braced himself, but impact never came. Gregor opened his eyes, closing them an action he was unaware of, to see the rat let out a gasp and desperately paw at the blade that had appeared through it's throat.

Gregor looked up to see the familiar flash of gold. Aurora. She flipped upright, he had no idea when she and Luxa had arrived, but was not surprised when she made her entrance upside down. It _was_ Luxa's favorite way to enter a room after all. Aurora pulled out of her dive just as Luxa would have been scraped all over the ceiling, which would require much explaining to the King and Queen.

Shed was not dead yet, and as he slumped against the cave wall, his eyes burned straight into Gregor's and he found himself unable to look away as the rat uttered his last words. "We well hunt you to the last rat." With that said, he died.

Gregor took only a moment to collect his breath before turning to his rescuers. Mareth pulled the swords from the two rats, dragged them to the river, and let it quickly carry their bodies away. Andromeda gained her composer and he jumped on her, as he was flying past, he grabbed Gregor by the neck of his shirt and pulled him aboard.

"Torch the land!" Henry yelled after gathering Perdita in his arms and taking off. Aurora wrapped her claws carefully around Perdita's bat. Luxa smashed an oil lamp she had brought to the ground, Mareth handed Gregor a torch and instructed him to drop onto the oil. He did as he was told. The beach burst into flames.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Gregor was awoken by a light in his eyes. He opened them to his instructor.<p>

"Gregor," Mareth greeted, Gregor had to squint to see him properly due to the sudden change in light. "The council meeting starts soon, and they wish for you to attend. If you make haste you may eat and wash first."

"Okay Mareth," Gregor went to sit up, but a weight on his arm kept him from moving. He looked down and saw Boot's head was cradled in the crook his arm. Gregor eased himself up without waking her, she had been sneaking into his room almost every night, and he had gotten use to doing it. "What about Boots?"

"She may sleep," Mareth smiled at the little girl. "Dulcet will watch over her."

After being assured his newly acquired sister would be safe, Gregor bathed quickly and changed his night clothes for fresh ones. Though he knew the way, Mareth led him to a room off the kitchen where he could eat.

He wolfed down his bread, butter, and mushroom omelet. He all but chugged his herb tea, which almost burned his throat seeing as it was _hot_ tea, but energy coursed through him none the less.

Mareth chuckled at the young boy's appetite. "Are you ready?"

"All set!" Gregor sprung up and his solider friend had to almost run to keep up with the newly revived 11 year old as he 'walked' to the council room. On the way there, Gregor asked the guard, "How is Perdita and the bats?"

Mareth smiled at Gregor once more, "Perdita has finally awaken, and the bats will mend." Gregor beamed at the good news. They arrived at the correct room just then.

The council, who were a group of about a dozen older Underlanders, were already gathered at a round table. Gregor saw Vikus and Solovet among them, who both greeted him with friendly smiles. Luxa was also there, she was sitting next to her parents and when Gregor walked in, she sent him a smile before continuing her conversation with the King and Queen.

The council started off asking him questions about last nights events, but quickly emerged themselves in their own arguments. Luxa met Gregor's gaze and rolled her eyes at the 'grown ups'. Gregor laughed to himself and went back to watching with amusement as they fought with one another.

He caught phrases like _"a son of the sun" _and _"white waters run red" _and knew they were talking about the prophecy.

Vikus rapped on the table, finally shushing the arguing adults. "Who believes Gregor to be the Warrior of the 'Prophecy of Gray'?" It seemed like a stupid question to ask, Gregor had argued with Vikus when the subject had first been introduced, but now he saw that it was true. Surely it would be no question, but the council had to approve everything, only the King and Queen could reverse it.

Every hand went up, save Luxa's. She wasn't allowed to vote yet. "We believe you to be the warrior." Vikus informed him, he could see the twinge of sadness that went along with it, Gregor knew why and he had come to terms with that.

"I'll get Boots and we can go." The council members all shared nervous looks. "Look, she's my sister, and I am taking her with me." He looked around the table, most of them had a convinced look on their faces, they wanted to separate them. Gregor knew he couldn't let that happen.

He looked at Luxa as they argued once more, "What would you do?" he asked so quietly only she could hear.

"You know I do not have a sister." Gregor nodded. "But if I did, I would not let her out of my sight." He nodded again in thanks.

Gregor held his hand up, the council's protesting and arguing faded and Gregor spoke. "If she does not go, I do not go."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so sorry I didn't update in like so long, I'm a terrible person I know. So this is the second chapter in 'Prophecy of Grey'! The plot is very close, seeing as I refer to the book to make sure I get the times right, but there is differences, as I hope you noted. I made this really long (over 3k words!) just for the reason of not updating. I hope to update a different one of my stories every week, so keep me on your author alert!<br>**

**I still don't own anything...**

**Yours,**

**Arty**


	3. Quests and Such

_Last time on The Prophecy of Grey:_

_Gregor held his hand up, the council's protesting and arguing faded and Gregor spoke. "If she does not go, I do not go."_

* * *

><p>Before any of the growingly frustrated council members could argue with him, an unhealthily white woman on a bat crashed through the large wooden doors of the room. Gregor cringed at the unnatural angles her bond's wings folded at and at the amount of blood streaming from her chest.<p>

"Anchel is dead." She gasped. "Daphne is dead. The rats found Shed, Fangor. King Gorger has launched his armies. They come for us."

Vikus caught her as she fell from exhaustion. "How many Keeda?" When she didn't answer he directed his attention to the people around him. "Sound the alarm!" Moments later the place erupted in frantic activity, horns blew as people rushed in and out, bats swooped in and out before they even landed with new orders.

"Gregor, prepare yourself, for we leave shortly." Vikus appeared out of nowhere from his position giving commands.

"Can we go with the rats attacking?" Gregor asked. "There is a war starting, will they need me?"

"The quest is our best hope of surviving this war, should it be the one foretold in 'The Prophecy of Gray'."

"I am taking Boots." He asserted, taking no for an answer was not going to happen.

"Yes, Boots shall come." The old man agreed, waving Mareth over. "Take Gregor to the museum, aid him choose whatever he thinks may help on the journey." Just as he got the command out, he stepped into another conversation with an official looking, equally as old, man.

Gregor and Mareth sprinted out the door, down three staircases and several halls until they arrived at the familiar large chamber; it's shelves loaded with miscellaneous objects collected over the centuries.

Immediately his friend thrusted a leather drawstring bag in his hands, rushing off after to scower the rows of shelves. "Remember you must carry what you choose." His reminder echoed from somewhere in the middle of the maze.

"What will help..." Gregor muttered the question to himself as he shifted through the baseballs and old tires littering the counters. As he made his way around the long rows of discarded things, Gregor found working flashlight and batteries; memories of nights camping out on the roof of his building flashing in his mind.

He was about ready to start the trek of finding Mareth when something caught his eye. Gregor smiled at the bright yellow, plastic hat with the built in light on top. More shifting around revealed the matching batteries which he collected and deposited in his growing sack. Opting to wear the hat after a moment of hesitation.

"We must go!" Mareth appeared at the end of the row. "Get your sister and take flight."

As they walked briskly through the maze, Gregor saw a familiar object that halted his movement immediately. It was small, no larger than his hand and slightly dented, the graphics fairly unaffected by age, his favorite drink. Root beer.

He hadn't tasted the carbonated drink since he was six so when Mareth yelled at him to hurry, Gregor made the split decision to bring the can along on their quest.

* * *

><p>On the way to High Hall, the two soldiers stopped by to retrieve the young girl that caused the debate only twenty minutes ago. When Gregor walked into the nursery, he saw the little girl sitting among three other toddlers playing happily. The sight almost made him rethink the idea of taking her along until the prophecy ran through his head again and he was scooping her up.<p>

Dulcet walked over to the eleven year old who despite his young age, was now close to the same height as her. With a grin for the both of them, she helped Gregor maneuver into a backpack before sliding Boots in. After she strapped a small bundle to the base. "Extra catch cloths, a few toys, and some treats just in case."

"Thanks Dul," Gregor turned and brought his shrinking babysitter into a hug. "I would never had-"

With a wave of her hand, the Underland nanny pushed his self incrimination of lacking the skills to take care of his own sister. In her experience it was siblings, no matter how close, that provided the best care whether they knew what to do or not. Mareth expressed their hurry again.

"Fare you well, sweet Boots." She finished, kissing the baby's cheek.

"Bye-bye, Dul-cee." Boots waved at her. "See you soon!"

"Fly you high."

"Fly you high Gregor." With that the three of them left.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not even going to try to apologize.<strong>

**Yours,  
>~Arty<strong>


	4. Meeting the Bats

_Last time of The Prophecy of Grey:_

_"Bye-bye, Dul-cee." Boots waved at her. "See you soon!"_

_"Fly you high."_

_"Fly you high Gregor." With that the three of them left._

* * *

><p>As Gregor entered High Hall, the mission was readying for their departure; several bats were being loaded with supplies.<p>

He also saw Henry hugging an unhealthily skinny girl who was weeping uncontrollably, no matter how much the other royal attempted to comfort her. "The dreams brother, they have worsened. Some terrible evil awaits you."

"Do not distress yourself, Nerissa, I have no plans to die." Henry tried to sooth.

"There are evils beyond death." His sister said. "Fly you high, Henry. Fly you high." With one last hug, Henry turned to talk to the Queen behind him as she loaded Aurora.

Gregor shifted on his feet nervously as she came his way. He never knew what to say to Nerissa when she was like this but she had pulled herself together by the time she'd reached him. She held out a small roll of paper. "For you, Gregor."

Unrolling it quickly, Gregor saw it was the prophecy written out in her neat handwriting. Nerissa was a mind reader, he was sure of it because Gregor was just wishing he could read Sandwich's first prophecy again. "She is good." He muttered, half to Boots half to himself.

"She has a gift." A boy agreed as he mounted Aurora. Realizing that no one would ever even think of touching the bat made Gregor take a second look which, on his second take, helped him realized it was his best friend.

"What happened to your hair?" He tried to sound serious but a small chuckle blended with his question which was a legitimate question, Gregor had never seen the queen-to-be with her hair much shorter than her waist.

"Long locks are dangerous in battle," She gave him a look that screamed why did you not know that?

"I mean - it looks good short, too." He tried to save but it didn't really work because as soon as he said it, Luxa burst out laughing.

"Gregor, think you my beauty is of any matter is such times?"

The comment made his face flush red with embarrassment and he managed to mutter "That is not what I meant..."

Luxa merely shook her head at her cousin who had come over when Luxa entered the room, and to make it worse, he was cracking up too. "The boy speaks true cousin, you look like a shorn sheep."

"All the better," Luxa exclaimed with a large smile. "For who would attack a sheep?"

"Baa," Boots' sudden addition to the conversation startled Gregor almost to the point he physically jumped. "Baaaa." Henry laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Sheep says baa," Boots finished with a defensive pout that only made the visiting royal laugh harder.

Through it all, Gregor almost laughed too until he remembered the reason everyone was laughing was on the innocence of his new baby sister. However, he didn't know how to make it stop so he opted to fiddle with his bag until he got it hooked on the side strap.

When he looked up, he found Luxa looking at him curiously. "What wear you on your head?"

"It is a hard hat," He told her, flicking it on and off to demonstrate. "They use them for protection in the Overland if I remember correctly." Gregor easily picked up the subtle hints of her desire to try it on. He was a bit ticked at her for making fun of him and Boots but she was his friend, and for now, he couldn't help but get over his grudge and held the hat to her. "Check it out."

Luxa tried not to show her excitement and Gregor blamed it on Henry's judging gaze, if it was just the two of them taking an adventure in the museum she would have been grinning her head off, snatching his newest find from his hands to have her turn to fiddle with it, but anytime her cousin visited she acted indifferently to any exciting thing that came up.

As she worked the light switch, some of her normal excitement came to the surface. "How do you keep the light inside without air? Does it not get hot on your head?" She asked curiously.

"It runs on a battery," Gregor scrunched his eyebrows together for a moment as he tried to remember what he knew about the small squares that powered the hat and flashlights. "Electricity, and there is a layer of protection. Try it on."

Without hesitation, Luxa popped the hat on her head. Gregor almost laughed at how odd the bright yellow plastic looked on her short cropped hair, super pale skin, and violet eyes. "Vikus told me of electricity," She tilted her head around the room sending a beam around before removing and returning it reluctantly. "Here, you must save your fuel."

"You will begin a new fashion," Henry commented happily, grabbing one of the small stone torches off the wall and laying it on top of his head. Flames seemed to be shooting out of his forehead but it was all Gregor could do to not hit him in the mouth. Fire boiled in his stomach and he had to take several deep breaths to keep his rager instincts down. "What think you Luxa?" He exaggerated his haughtiness as he presented his new idea.

Luxa gasped suddenly and pointed to the top of Henry's head. He immediately dropped the torch and beat at his hair as the two of them collapsed in hysterics, realistically leaning against each other to avoid crushing Boots between them.

When Henry realized he was the target of his cousin's joke, he reached forward to bring Luxa into a headlock and rubbed his knuckles across her short hair while she laughed helplessly.

Gregor was the first to notice the old man as he entered. "You two are in a merry mood, considering we are at war." He frowned as he launched himself onto his bat.

"It is only an excess of spirit Vikus." Henry said, releasing Luxa. "Who am I to ride with grandfather, you or Luxa?"

A spark ignited in Gregor's gut and his mouth moved on it's own. "Henry may ride on Ares, he will not mind."

"He will mind." The black bat growled lowly so only the soldier could hear him who elbowed him accordingly.

"I would not dare take your bond Overlander." Henry all but sneered at him.

"Henry." Luxa gasped at the outlash.

Vikus too seemed shocked at the comment but hid it better than his granddaughter. "Henry, all of Regalia has accepted Gregor as one of their own, no matter of his descent."

"He has incented the fact himself," He defended somewhat carelessly, not completely caring about being yelled at. "Two over, two under of royal descent, that is the first line of the Prophecy of Grey, the prophecy Gregor insists is upon us. If he is correct, he must be the second Overlander spoken of."

"There is no argument the Prophecy of Grey is upon us," Vikus insisted with a glare down at the boy. "Now, Gregor has been gracious enough to offer the service of his bond, you shall be grateful."

"Yes, thank you, gracious warrior." Henry stood from his mock bow and made his way onto the black bat who, if bats could, looked very displeased.

Keeping his comments and negative actions in, Gregor mounted Aurora behind Luxa. "I cannot stand him." Gregor muttered to her after they had flown for a bit. The golden bat they were riding on heard his statement and reduced her speed and elevation to allow them the privacy needed for a conversation headed in the way she anticipated.

"Henry?" Luxa laughed quietly. "He takes amusement from your rage, Gregor, your retort is what he is aiming to hear. You only encourage him by giving in to his advances."

"I encourage him?" The eleven year old tried to keep his exclamation under control as not to alert their fellow travelers who, despite being familiar to the two friends isolating themselves to speak, would turn their heads at a loud or violent conversation. "You are the one who giggles at the responses he gives."

Luxa opened her mouth to retort only to be cut off by her now vividly quiet riding companion. "And it does not stop there. When he visits you behave very differently than the Luxa we all know. Your parents have noticed this change in you as well, they have asked my opinion on my occasions. I suggested to limit Henry's visits, they more than agreed."

Gregor received no response from the young queen and he almost thought she was mad. Instinctively he tightened his legs around Aurora's midsection to avoid being thrown from the bat, only the shove never came. Luxa continued to be mute but reclined into a comfortable position, using Gregor as a back rest.

The gesture relaxed the boy's nerves and he wrapped his arms around her waist in an attempt to relay his own apology. Aurora flew back to the group and the rest of the trip was a comfortable silence between the two while the rest of their party chatted.

As they advanced through the cave systems, Gregor noticed the number of bats hanging from the ceiling increasing. Vikus led them into a vast cave and suddenly hundreds upon hundreds of bats. A towering pillar of stone sat in the middle of the cave, it's sides smooth, round, and flat on the top.

Waiting for them on the flattened surface sat a group of bats. Once they landed on the smooth black stone surface, all parties dismounted and bowed respectively. The impressive silvery white bat in the middle stepped forward. "Queen Athena, meet you Gregor the Overlander." Vikus waved a hand in the eleven year old's direction.

Despite the Overlander part of his introduction, Gregor bowed again. "Be you the warrior? Be you he who calls?" Her soft purr was almost soothing.

Standing up straight, Gregor gave a firm nod. "I am the warrior, I am he who calls."

* * *

><p><strong>:) Little different from the book huh? :P<strong>

**Always yours,**

**~Arty**


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